MINES MANAGEMENT INC. AMEX: MGN TSX: MGT Contact: Douglas Dobbs Vice President, Corporate Development 905 W Riverside Ave., Ste 311Spokane, Washington 99201 Phone: 509-838-6050 Fax: 509-838-0486 E-Mail: info@minesmanagement.com Web Site: www.minesmanagement.com Shares Outstanding: 23.1 million 52 Week Trading Range: NYSE Amex: Hi: $4.43 Low: $1.45 TSX: Hi: C$4.29 Low: C$1.56

       The lights are glowing a bright green for the next steps toward production at its massive Montanore Silver-Copper Deposit for Mines Management, Inc. (NYSE Amex: MGN; TSX: MGT) -- www.minesmanagement.com -- . Most recently, the company filed a Technical Report, prepared by Mine and Quarry Engineering Services, Inc., validating a Preliminary Economic Assessment issued by Mines Management in Dec. 2010 that postulated the potential for a “financially robust underground mine”.
       Significantly, that assessment estimated the project’s pre-tax Net Present Value at a whopping $1.323 billion, using metals prices as of Nov. 17, 2010, of $25.65/oz. silver and $3.72/lb. copper. The estimated internal rate of return was 32.3%, at a 5% discount rate. Even at a more conservatively estimated prices of $15/oz silver and $3.10/lb. copper, the project’s pre-tax NPV would be $485 million with an IRR of 17.4% on an unleveraged 100% equity basis.
       In fact, if Mines Management’s 100%-owned Montanore project were in production today, it would rank among the top twenty silver mines in the world (Source: Intierra).
       Montanore is estimated to contain more than 230 million ounces of silver and nearly 2 billion pounds of copper. The project has undergone extensive engineering and is targeting an initial production capacity of approximately 12,500 tons per day to yield an annual production rate of 6.4 million ounces of silver and 51.1 million pounds of copper. Production could increase to a maximum of 20,000 tons per day over the life of the mine, if conditions warrant.
       “We have a great deposit and the requisite complement of skill sets in our management team and on our board to see development of the Montanore to fruition,” says Glenn Dobbs, Mines Management’s President and CEO.

       The world-class Montanore Project is strategically located in northwestern Montana just 40 miles north of Idaho’s famed Silver Valley, one of the world’s most prolific silver districts. Montanore was first discovered in 1983 and lies at the northern end of a mineralization trend that extends south to the Coeur d’Alene Silver District. The region includes such famed mines as the Coeur, Sunshine, Bunker Hill, Troy, Lucky Friday and Galena Mines.
       “The Montanore deposit is situated in rocks from which over 1 billion ounces of silver have been produced historically and which are estimated by the USGS to contain an additional 750 million ounces of silver and 6 billion pounds of copper,” says John Thompson, Mines Management’s VP of Operations and General Manager.
       Previous operators including U.S. Borax & Chemical and Noranda Minerals of Canada conducted 70,000 feet of diamond core drilling at Montanore, constructed a 14,000 foot evaluation adit, patented mineral claims controlling the project, secured project permitting, completed an environmental impact statement, and began advanced-stage engineering and mine planning.
       Mines Management acquired Noranda’s U.S. operating companies in 2006, along with title to patented lands including the portal site to the adit and project permits, and initiated excavation of the portal and reconstruction of site infrastructure in preparation for resuming the evaluation drilling program. The company is currently working toward completion of supplemental draft and final environmental impact studies.

       The Montanore’s Preliminary Economic Assessment calls for a 15-year mine life with an underground mining operation based on a measured and indicated mineral resource of 81.5 million short tons of material grading 2.04 ounces per short ton silver and 0.75% copper, and an inferred mineral resource of 35.0 million short tons grading 1.85 opt silver and 0.71% copper at a cutoff grade of 1.0 opt silver.
       “The PEA indicates the potential for a financially robust underground mine,” says Dobbs. The mine would utilize conventional grinding and flotation processing techniques at a nominal throughput of 12,500 short tons per day.
       The deposit would be bulk mined 350 days per year and utilize an inclined room and pillar mining method producing at a nominal rate of 12,500 short tons per operating day, although the mine is being permitted for a throughput of up to 20,000 short tons per day.
       Over the 15-year mine life, an estimated 59 million short tons of process feed would be treated at average grades of 1.88 ounces silver per ton and 0.72% copper, yielding a total of 96 million ounces of silver and 767 million pounds of copper. Above average feed grades of 2.26 opt silver and 0.84% copper would be mined in the first four years.
       The mineralized zones crop out at the surface and extend down dip at least 12,000 ft. to the north-northwest. The mineralization is open ended in the down-dip direction. Mineralization occurs in two sub-parallel horizons. The average thickness for each of the two horizons is 35 ft., depending upon cutoff. During mining, the deposit would be accessed through three declines, each extending approximately 15,000 to 17,000 feet from the east, with processing facilities at the surface.
       The deposit is open down dip to the northwest. Diamond drilling in the northern area of the deposit has suggested a third mineralized bed might exist and raises the potential for expansion of the resource.
       Studies indicate an initial capital cost of $552.3 million (+/-35% accuracy) for treating 12,500 st/d of material at the Montanore project. Ongoing and replacement capital costs and closure capital are estimated to be an additional $217.9 million over the life of mine, based on Q2 2010 dollars.

       With an impressive future value virtually assured at its Montanore Project, Mines Management is now preparing to take a series of substantive steps to bring its Montana-based silver-copper deposit closer to actual production:
• Permitting: Continue with completion of permitting process. Currently, the project is being advanced under permits approved by the state of Montana in 1993. Remaining steps include securing approval of an Environmental Impact Statement, a process which began in June, 2005.
       • Evaluation drilling program: Surface facilities have been constructed in preparation for an underground evaluation and drilling program that will support a final feasibility study. Development drifting and evaluation would include 50,000 feet of diamond core drilling to confirm the resource, geological structure and deposit geometry in the areas of the planned infrastructure and first mining panels. The program would also furnish sample material for metallurgical testwork, geotechnical and geometallurgical modeling. This would provide information needed to advance the engineering development of the project.
       • Feasibility study: Data from evaluation program will support completion of a final feasibility study.
       “We have a management team and board of directors that is very, very experienced in both exploration and mine development,” says Dobbs.
       Dobbs himself has extensive experience in international finance, investment banking, and natural resource financing. He has been a board member of the Northwest Mining Association and served in the Washington State House of Representatives. He founded the Alpha Commodities Fund, First American Bank, and the InterGold Fund. Another key member of the company’s management team is John Thompson, Vice President and General Manager of the Montanore. Thompson has worked more than 30 years in underground mine development, including the development of projects for Pan American Silver, Bema Gold, as well as development of the Stillwater Platinum Mine. Other team members include CFO James Moore, previously CFO of Barrick Gold’s Latin American operations; and VP of Exploration Dr. Mike Rasmussen, with 25 years of experience at Echo Bay Mines, Kinross Gold and Endeavour Silver; the board includes Robert Russell, previously general manager of the huge Grasberg Copper/Gold Mine, and Russell Babcock, formerly chief geologist for Kennecott Copper.
       “We have a very tight share structure with only 23 million shares outstanding, our investors benefit from both a higher value per share and major leverage to movements in metals prices,” says Dobbs. “I believe Mines Management is significantly undervalued.”